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McDonald’s sorry for ad making light of mental health issues

McDonald’s is sorry for an ad deemed insensitive to those with mental health issues, even though the fast feeder claims it isn’t too blame for the offense.

The ad, which appeared on subway train in Boston, featured a woman with her head in her hand looking depressed. It read: “You’re not alone. Millions of people love the Big Mac.” The ad also had a 1-800 phone number to call, which was McDonald’s corporate number.

Thing is, McDonald’s claims the incident isn’t its fault. A rep for the company sent the following statement to Time magazine:

“A local print ad displayed on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was recently brought to our attention. We can confirm this ad was not approved by McDonald’s. And, as soon as we learned about it, we asked that it be taken down immediately. We have an approval process in place, with our marketing and advertising agencies, to ensure that all advertising content is consistent with our brand values. Regrettably, in this incident, that process was not followed. We sincerely apologize for this error.”

The ad agency in question is Arnold in Boston, according to Adweek. A statement from the firm’s president, Pam Hamlin, said:

“Arnold apologizes for its mistake to McDonald's and to anyone who was offended by the ad. McDonald's did not approve the ad, and its release was our unintended error. We've addressed the issue and have improved our approval process to ensure this does not happen in the future.”

Last month, Ford was caught in a PR firestorm when its ad firm in India leaked a series of offensive print ads that the automaker had not sanctioned or approved.

This isn’t the first time McDonald’s has issued a mea culpa for an advertisement.